Sleds, Sleighs and Snow: A Canadian Christmas Carol

Former Star reporter Anne Tempelman-Kluit
is at it again, producing her fourth volume of Canadian Christmas tales. The
earlier books were focussed on specific regions of the country, but this one,
as she notes in her introduction, runs from sea to sea to sea, and roves through
the history of the nation.

“Through stories of the year’s most
universal celebration, this book illustrates how Canadian life has changed
over time.”

The eighty-four items in the book include
letters, memoirs, newspaper clippings, a few pieces of fiction, some poetry
and a one Christmas recipe. These are accompanied by a equal number of engravings,
photographs, Christmas cards and sketches, each nicely matched to the text
piece it accompanies.

The material ranges through time as
well as space, beginning with Father Jean de Brebeuf’s 1642 “Jesus Ahatonhia
- Jesus is Born” (better known as “The Huron Carol”) and moving through the
centuries until the late 1940s. Of the eighty-four items in the book,

Tempelman-Kluit has managed to include
four items from the Klondike, all from the Gold Rush era to the time of Robert
Service, who is included, along with short pieces from such well known names
as Margaret Laurence, E, Pauline Johnson, L.M. Montgomery, Grey Owl, Emily
Carr and Stephen Leacock.